Follow the crazy adventures of an Alabama cyclist taking on the Race Across America in 2015.

Gatlinburg Day 1

Do you know how much I love riding in the true mountains? We got in last night at 11:45PM, and I knew that my 700x23c racing tires would be no match for potentially slick icy roads up here so I spent another 30 minutes changing both tires and putting on some good 700x25c all-weather tires (gotta love the Strada-Ks) so that by the time I made it to bed it was 12:30AM. Nevertheless, I set my alarm for 5:30AM so I’d have a chance to do some riding before my computer conference began. Now during a quick break after lunch I just uploaded my ride and see that I ended up with the KOM on the motor trail descent … heartrate still racing a bit from ducking, diving, and sliding around corners in the half-light of dawn shaded by Mt Leconte. Here are some pics I took along the way:

I started out by climbing up the Ober-Gatlinburg ski resort side of the valley and was rewarded with this view of the sunrise coming over the shoulder of Mt Leconte.

Here’s a view looking more towards the summit of Mt Leconte … not sure if that is the true summit visible

After descending back down into Gatlinburg, I headed up Cherokee Orchard road and encountered these wild turkeys in the middle of the roadway, but couldn’t get my camera out in time to get a pic until they had scampered off into the woods. They were really big!

Sign pointing the way towards the start of the one-way motortrail road … awesome to do this early, early, early before any cars are on the road

View looking at the start of the one-way motortrail road … awesome to do this early, early, early before any cars are on the road